Trial by Jury and the New Federal Rules of Procedure

Abstract

Fourteen years ago the Supreme Court said:"Section 274b [of the Judicial Code] is an important step toward a consolidation of the federal courts of law and equity, and the questions presented in this union are to be solved much as they have been under the state codes.... The most important limitation upon a federal union of the two kinds of remedies in one form of action is the requirement of the Constitution in the Seventh Amendment.... Today the last step in this consolidation is imminent. Before it is taken we may properly examine the solutions found by the states for the similar problems raised under their codes. For throughout this country, just as in the British Empire, there has been a wealth of experience under a united procedure which should indeed point some morals to guide future codifiers.